Can Shepard Robots Keep The Flock In Line?

When you picture sheep being herded what you picture is probably a
man standing on a hill, while his faithful dog circles the flock back
into a safe formation. What you probably do not picture is a man on a
smart phone letting a drone do the work. Yet, that is exactly the vision
of Marc-Alexandre Favier. Mr. Favier, who is currently a graduate student at Harper Adams University College, has designed a UAV that is designed to help herd and track sheep and cattle.

The UAV, or unmanned areal vehicle, is descend to help track and
herd the sheep. The farmer can then see the action, or give the drone
directions with the help of a smart phone app. For the time being the
drone has been demonstrated in indoor conditions. There is no word on
how it will deal with windy days. There have also been no tests to show
exactly how the sheep or cows would respond to the drone. After all the
sheep respond to dogs for one simple reason. They have teeth, and can
drag them back to the flock if they have to.

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